By Dr Lakhon Kma
The resignation of Shri. D. D. Lapang from the Congress Party has been unnecessarily glorified, although it was supposed to be a matter between a party cadre and the party. In democracy, everyone is free to join or leave any party at any point of time. Sad part is that while Congress was in power in the Meghalaya, although sidelined, he never seemed to mind it. Now that the party is out of power, he tried to find an alibi in Rahul Gandhi or Congress Party’s weakness, to leave the party. Instead, had he been in the party and revolted against what he described as ‘whimsical actions’ that would have been a true test of character and he would have been a hero for me. Looking at the timing of his resignation and the alibi, it appears to be an opportunistic action and the story of sour grapes. What is more amusing is that Nalin Kohli of the BJP is taking a high moral ground on this issue, ignoring the fact that while being in power, his own party, led by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah completely sidelined the likes of LK Advani, Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh, Subramanian Swamy, etc. It only goes to prove that it is normal to replace seniors in any party as a cycle of change in consonance with time. The difference however, is that these leaders did not leave the party despite being suspended. They continue to fight against wrong or ill practices in the BJP and stand by what they believe is right. Their faith in the ideology of the party is stronger than individuals.
Except for the respect that I have for an elderly person, I am not enchanted or fancied by Mr Lapang in any way. I know that public memory is short-lived but I still remember a nasty incident few years ago when he was the Chief Minister and our women folk wanted to meet him in the secretariat. He disregarded the women folk and public in general who made him the MLA and the Chief Minister by saying that he cannot meet any Tom, Dick and Harry. After some time, those women and public were mercilessly sprayed with water cannons near the secretariat and DC’s office. For me, that was a black day when defenceless women folk were water-cannoned for raising a public issue before the Government. Friends, Mr. Lapang is no saint to me.
There is an old saying-“Prosperity gains friends, adversity tries them,” and this is aptly relevant to the Congress Party in the current scenario. This testing time for the party, is also an opportunity to use it as a sieve for refinement. Although I am not a Congressman, for once, I agree with Dr Mukul Sangma when he said ‘people come and go but the party remains’ and I believe that those who remain should work hard to make a come-back. What is unpalatable is the statement of Mr Lapang that Rahul Gandhi is not fit to be a leader or Prime Minister. Let me remind him that in the run-up to the 2014 General Election, the arrogance of Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar of the Congress Party who taunted Modi saying he is not fit even to sell chai/tea outside the Congress headquarters in Delhi, and the subsequent verdict of common citizen of this country, made Mr. Modi-the Prime Minister. History can repeat itself in different shades and colours.
It is absurd to say that a person who has been Chief Minister for 5-terms should have been treated differently when his party is out of power in the State and the Centre. Indeed for me, being 5-term or 10-term Chief Minister does not carry much meaning except for its numeric value or academic interest. What is valuable, however is, what has been achieved in each term as far as development of the State is concerned. For a person who has followed the State progress and politics closely for the last 15-20 years, I would put the lion’s share of blame for our underdevelopment to Mr Lapang because he was at the helm of affairs during this time in the State, while his erstwhile Party ruled the Centre around the same time. Issues such as the border disputes with Assam in West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills or Ri-Bhoi districts is still unresolved till date and hence it keeps flaring up every now and again. Other core issues such as infrastructure, health care, education, roads, etc. have been stunted for decades in our State.
It is shameful that even after 46 years of statehood, we do not have an engineering or medical college of our own. The Shillong Airport which was constructed in mid-1960s and partly used by mid-1970s, is still not fully operational, to the extent that the honourable High Court of Meghalaya has to continuously intervene for our sake to make it fully operational. On the other hand, look at Sikkim, after just 9 years of laying the Foundation Stone, the New Greenfield Airport at Pakyong was inaugurated by the honourable Prime Minister on September 23 2018 and the first commercial flight will operate on October 4, 2018. The snail pace of development in Meghalaya speaks volume of our inability to carry our projects in a sustainable way and to enhance the process of development. A look at Crowborough hotel, started decades ago or the new 5-star Marriott hotel in Jail Road, now delayed by almost 5 years, makes us wonder the way our Government executes these deals with the implementing agencies such that they can default so easily, causing loss of crores of money over the years, thereby contributing to the status of ‘eternally cash-starved Meghalaya’. Naturally, whoever was at the helm of affair including Mr Lapang has a lot to answer. Sorry to say, we only get veteran leaders like him by default from time to time, but very rarely, statesmen. These veterans have received immense love and support from common and innocent folks. Alas! they could not translate it into actions that could have brought everlasting changes in their lives and the state as a whole.
Nobody is indispensable in politics and therefore, the exit of Mr Lapang from the Congress Party should be seen as an opportunity for emergence of new leaders with newer and better ideas for the good of nooks and corners of our state. It is also true of any other party. Therefore, political parties and their leaders should stop making unnecessary fuss about Mr. Lapang’s resignation, and in doing so, try to outsmart each other. It’s a non-issue to most of us. Rather, the political leaders should be concerned with the grave issues of underdevelopment in all spheres of life plaguing our state.
There is no dearth of human resource to carry the state forward, provided we work on a mission mode with utmost sincerity and dedication and completely shun the flimsy issues like someone’s resignation from his/her party. For once, I am emotionally compelled to bring in the National Service Scheme (NSS), which is so dear to me, in my discourse. Perhaps, understanding the motto of NSS “Not Me but You’, which has become the guiding principle of my life and many others lives, might help our politicians as well.
(The writer teaches at NEHU)